Recipe

July 7, 2012 Patisserie

Petit Fours: Pâtes de Fruits

Of all the petits fours presented at the end of the meal, I always have a soft spot for pâtes de fruits, the little cubes of fruit jelly. A petite bite of acidic sweetness, it’s always stuck me that it’s the perfect way to combine sweet and sour, and intense fruitiness too. This acidity is achieved by including citric or tartaric acid into the recipe, and the light mouthfeel is achieved by using pectin, rather than gelatine. This allows the jelly to melt in your mouth, which releases both the sweet and acidic elements of the jelly at the same time. Don’t store the finished product in the fridge – the granulated sugar will begin to dissolve.

I’ve adapted this recipe from one on the Sosa website.

Ingredients
1kg fruit pureé (in my case, blackberry, but look below for the fab colour of passion fruit)
1kg sugar
30g pectin jaune (a kind of fruit pectin)
300g glucose
5g citric acid

Method:

Heat the fruit pureé until boiling point
Mix 100g of the sugar with the pectin and then add to the pureé stirring constantly
Boil again and add half sugar
Boil again and add the sugar remaining
Heat again until boiling point and add the liquid glucose
Cook on a low heat until you reach 106ºC
Add the citric acid and remove from the heat
Pour in a frame or moulds
Leave to cool at room temperature for around three hours, or overnight
Cut into your preferred shape and dredge in sugar

Cook on a low heat until you reach 160ºC

Pour in a frame or moulds

This is a passion fruit variation, which also makes excellent pâte de fruit

July 2, 2012 Recipe

The Harwood Arms Venison Scotch Egg

I had lunch at the Harwood Arms recently, and arrived late :0) What a marvel – to arrive late and to be presented with a gorgeous Scotch egg within moments of being seated, and having spent nearly an hour in traffic to travel about four miles! It was delicious, spicy, well flavoured and with a soft gorgeous yolk in the centre – yummy!

The Harwood Arms is London’s only Michelin starred pub, and jolly good it is too. The pub is part owned by Mike Robinson of the PotKiln (we’d also had Mike’s venison at the Royal Berkshire Shooting School – excellent produce). Hubby wasn’t with me that day, which is a shame, as he’s much more into Scotch eggs than me – this made me determined to make him some. When I googled ‘venison Scotch egg recipes’ I was delighted to find Mike’s own recipe in The Field magazine!

Ingredients
8 medium hen’s eggs
150g (5oz) venison mince
300g (101⁄2oz) pork sausage meat
Salt and pepper
Herbs
200g (7oz) plain flour
100ml (31⁄2fl oz) milk
3 eggs, beaten
250g (9oz) coarse white breadcrumbs [I used Japanese panko breadcrumbs]
Makes 8 scotch eggs

Start by removing your eggs from the fridge at least an hour before cooking. Cooking from room temperature is the key to getting the yolks just so. Boil the eggs in water for five and a half minutes exactly. If you are at high altitude, this timing may change. Take the eggs out of the water and plunge into iced water to stop them cooking. When cool, peel them carefully and leave the peeled eggs in water. [I definitely overcooked my first batch of eggs, but I was using Clarence Court legbar eggs, which are perhaps a little smaller. On the second batch I cooked an extra egg, whipped it out and cracked it open before removing the others, to double check the state of the yolk. I also found it difficult to peel my eggs as they were so fresh, so I cracked the shells a little, leaving the eggs in the water for a few minutes. Once the cold water seeps around the egg, it’s a lots easier to peel them]

Prepare the sausage meat by mixing the venison and pork together. Season the mix with salt and pepper and any herbs you choose. Form the meat into balls the same size as the eggs.

Flour the eggs. Squidge the balls of sausage meat into flat circles about 5in in diameter and encase each egg in a thin layer of meat. Mix the milk and beaten eggs together, then flour the enrobed eggs again and dip them in the mix before dunking the lot in breadcrumbs.

Repeat the process so the crumb armour is two layers thick. Deep fry the eggs in plain oil at 175°C/347°F for six minutes. They should be deep brown in colour but not burnt. Serve hot and whole with a sprinkling of sea salt on the top. [These timings and temperature worked perfectly for my eggs – the yolk was still runny, but they were definitely warm and heated through]

Do give them a go, they were yummy.

Homemade Scotch eggs…

June 29, 2012 Mister Truffle

Risotto, with mushrooms, cep roasted chicken, and summer truffle

Risotto, with mushrooms,
cep roasted chicken, and summer truffle

There are a thousand different ways to make risotto, but how do you make risotto memorable? In the last twenty years there are three that I can recount in vivid detail:

In Lucca, we had an amazing barolo risotto with gorgonzola – umami heaven – salty, blue notes, rich, dense, it was utterly heavenly.

When Ramsey at Claridges was still a restaurant, and not a tourist destination, we had an amazing risotto with guinea fowl. The risotto was rich and dark – with a jus poured over it at the table – intense, meaty, the guinea fowl succulent and yielding.

There used to be an amazing little restaurant just above Picadilly, on the first floor at the apex of the junction of Picadilly and Regent Street – I have absolutely no memory of its name. Here we had a complete contrast – a light spring risotto of new peas, broad beans and asparagus… It was still rich and flavoursome, but I think had been lightened with something like marscapone, so it was silky and rich, but didn’t swamp the spring vegetables…

All of these are some time ago and I’d all but given up on risotto – for heavens sake – you can buy risotto in a tub now to be microwaved! But at Dinner we had an incredible saffron risotto that was so eye-wateringly rich and moreish that I decided it had to reappear on my menu.

The opportunity presented itself when I couldn’t decide what to do with the truffle I’d bought from @mistertruffle. I always automatically stick a truffle straight into my risotto rice when it arrives – an opportunity that can’t be missed – so it was already delicately scented before I began. There were a number of factors that made me decide on risotto, not least of which is a well-stocked larder, and some exceptional suppliers.

Ingredients:

Aquerello carnaroli rice from Infusions for Chefs

Morels from Mrs Tee

Summer truffle from @MisterTruffle

True Foods veal jus

Cep powder from Fine Food Specialists
Wine or Noily Prat
Cornfed chicken breasts

And a jar of my standby favourite mixed mushrooms – I use the oil to boost the mushroom flavour in stews, soups etc. With ingredients like that, how could you go wrong?

Method:

Before you begin, pop the jus into a pan to warm, I think I used three packets, they’re not huge, but substitute good stock if you don’t have this
Brush the chicken with oil, and dust with a coating of the cep powder, pop in the oven
Puree the morels and cook them out in a separate pan with the drained oil from the jar of mushrooms, or some olive oil
Pop in the risotto rice, and cook it until the rice becomes translucent
Pour in a small glass of wine at this point, and allow the rice to absorb it – actually I usually use noilly prat because I have it to hand…
Once the rice has absorbed all of the alcohol, gradually ladle in the stock, two ladles at a time, until the liquid is absorbed
Once the rice is cooked, grate some truffle over the top of the risotto and stirred it in, off the heat. I’ve added it at the end because this is a summer truffle, and the scent and flavour is much more delicate than the winter – you don’t want to lose it in the rice
Plate, with the roasted chicken, and top with finely sliced truffles… Oh, and a tiny drizzle of truffle oil… Fabulous!

Summer truffles….

The rice, after the stock is added for the first time…
The colour comes from the morel puree and the oil from the mushrooms

The cornfed chicken, roasted in a coating of cep powder

The risotto receives it’s adornment of grated summer truffle

Risotto, with mushrooms, cep roasted chicken, and summer truffle

June 23, 2012 Fish

Roasted Salmon in African Volcano PeriPeri Sauce

I’ve been eating for two weeks… This may seem like a bit of a dream for some people, but my palate is jaded, I needed something much more comforting and zingy. I’ve also been up since 4am this morning, and I’m definitely not in the mood for one of my elaborate cookery sessions – so it has to be fast!

At this time of the year my fridge is full of summery seasonal produce, but the weather speaks much more of autumn. So, what to make? I check what I have – a large salmon fillet, Jersey royals of course, English asparagus, etc… Not really what I’m after I must admit…

I eye up my last remaining bottle of my favourite African Volcano peri peri marinade, and wonder when I will actually see Grant again to get some replacements… But it’s too late. My palate is already craving the rounded heat of Grant’s sauce, and there will be no alternative.

I decide to make a variation of one of my regular ‘quick’ dishes, here with a swift kick of spice to bring it alive. I always have a large fillet of salmon in my fridge – it’s an incredibly versatile ingredient… You can marinade it in white miso, or brown miso, teriyaki, olive oil and herbs… Anything you fancy really, so I knew it would take to Grant’s marinade with aplomb.

I popped the fillet into a food bag with the marinade, but I also added a small handful of crushed pink peppercorns – I wanted that tart piquancy that they add, and of course the colour doesn’t look strange here either. Then I wandered off for half an hour. Pop the salmon in a roasting tray covered in foil for 10 minutes, then uncover it for the remaining 15 to allow the skin to crisp up. I also popped in some lime quarters as roasted lime is delicious with fish.

While the fish was cooking I peeled the asparagus and popped that in a foil parcel to roast alongside the salmon, and prepared some boiled and crushed Jersey royals with olive oil. How simple is that?

Now. Jamie Oliver has a sweet potato mash that would have worked perfectly with this, but I didn’t have sweet potatoes in my fridge today. We make this mash regularly, it has a spicy kick, and an amazing tangy savoury contrast via a combination of lime, mango chutney and soya sauce… Next time I will definitely make this dish using that mash and not the Jersey royals, lovely though they were. The recipe is in Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals, but I’ve included a link below from the Daily Mail website for ease.

Line your trays with foil, and the whole thing will take you about 15 minutes of prep, and about the same of actual cooking. Result.

If you want to try the African Volcano marinade or sauce for yourself (and you should!), you can pop along to the Maltby Street Market on a Saturday, or contact Grant directly for a clandestine handing over of bottles…

Jamie’s Sweet Potato Mash

Ingredients:

700g (1lb 9oz) sweet potatoes
A small bunch of fresh coriander
2tbsp mango chutney
Soy sauce
2 limes

Wash the sweet potatoes, trim off any gnarly bits, then stab them a few times with a knife. Put in a large microwave-safe bowl, halve one of the limes and add to the bowl, then cover with a double layer of clingfilm and microwave on full power for 12 minutes, or until cooked through.

Finely chop the coriander on a large wooden chopping board, setting a few leaves aside for the garnish. Add the mango chutney, a good splash of soy sauce, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the juice from ½ a lime and the reserved chopped chilli. Chop and mix everything together on the board.

Get the sweet potatoes out of the microwave and check they are cooked through, then use tongs to squeeze over the juice from the hot lime halves and discard them.

Carefully tip the sweet potatoes on top of the mango chutney mixture and use a knife or masher to chop and mash everything together, including the skins. Season to taste, adding more fresh lime juice if needed.

This is last week’s salmon by the way, when I was clearly feeling much more summery and light :0)

June 23, 2012 Iced Berry Souffle

Michel Roux Jr’s Iced Red Berry Soufflé

Continuing with my soufflé obsession, here we have an iced soufflé. Unlike a chilled soufflé which uses gelatine to stabilise the dish, a frozen soufflé can be much lighter because it’s obviously frozen. The obvious drawback in the average kitchen, I would suggest, is that you need enough free shelf space to sit the dishes for 12 hours.

On the plus side, you can make it in advance, and can actually use up those bags of frozen fruit we all seem to have in our freezer. Use the space you free up to set the soufflés! The perfect summer dinner party dish, if we ever get enough sun to truly call it summer…

…

May 27, 2012 Canapes

Vietnamese Summer Roll

One of my favourite things to eat are Vietnamese Summer Rolls, or Gỏi Cuốn. Served cold, they can include pork, and in the UK I’ve had them with crispy duck in, which is lovely. However the more typical variant is a prawn roll. The wrapper is made from rice flour, but unlike a wonton wrapper that you might use for a spring roll, these become translucent when dampened in water. The wrappers are assembled with this in mind, so that the prettiest ingredients are placed at the centre of the roll.

Typically I include the following, though they’re not all traditional…

Ingredients
Rice wrappers
Prawns, cooked, and sliced in half lengthways
Vermicelli noodles – don’t overcook them (also called glass noodles)
Herbs, especially mint and coriander, but I usually include dill too
Chives, or shredded batons of spring onion
Carrot batons, finely sliced
Enoki mushrooms

Dip the wrapper into water briefly – don’t worry about it being firm still, they’ll continue to soften on the board. Lay your herbs, then put the remaining ingredients lengthways, at the end add the prawn. Fold the vegetable section over first, fold in the two sides like an envelope, and then roll over the prawns. There’s a good example of the technique in this video by EatNowCryLater.

I got my 11yo to make these, which is why some are a little irregular, but this is the perfect dish for children to make, if you get all the ingredients together, it becomes merely an assembly job.

If you want to make a traditional Vietnamese roll, you include leaves, bean sprouts, vermicelli noodles, some poached pork belly, and the halved prawns. It is usually served with a hoisin/peanut dipping sauce… I found an example in the Erica Treuille Canapes book, useful little book if you have a lot of parties, manages to ring the changes, which is difficult for canapes…

Peanut Hoisin Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp tomato ketchup
5 Tbsp water

Combine the ingredients together.

You can buy Eric Treuille’s Canapes book here>

May 26, 2012 Liquorice

Tribute Dish – Verveine’s Deconstructed Sherbet Dab

Last week I went to a fish restaurant locally called Verveine, in Milford-on-Sea. Verveine is run buy Chef Patron David Wykes, with a fishmonger at the front and a restaurant at the back. David and his team cook a variety of traditional and modern dishes. The one I particularly loved – we all loved – was a deconstructed sherbet dab. An intensely deep and rich liquorice ice-cream is topped with a scattering of sherbet – in this case icing sugar and Texturas Fizzy. I immediately ordered some Fizzy from my favourite supplier Infusions for Chefs, and got cooking.

I adapted my basis recipe for the lavender ice-cream, and added an additional 160g of Panda liquorice – now I would definitely go with the Panda brand, the liquorice is soft enough to melt adequately into the cream, and has the right intense earthiness you need for it to evoke all the right memories of a proper Sherbet Dab.

Ingredients
160g Panda liquorice (five bars in my case)

300ml whole milk
300ml double cream
4 large organic egg yolks
100g caster sugar

I literally put the whole thing in the thermomix, and cooked it at 80ºC for 5 minutes, speed 5. The main thermomix book tells you to take the mixture to 80º, and although the light was solid, I double checked the mixture with a digital thermometer. Leave it to cool, then pop into your ice-cream maker until it reaches the desired consistency.

Personally, I think I could easily have upped the liquorice even further, despite it being a higher ratio than I found in many other recipes. Still, I think it depends how much you like liquorice :0)

I didn’t particularly measure the sherbet, but I think was about 2 Tbsp icing sugar, 1 Tbsp Fizzy, and I popped in about 1 tsp of lemon powder because it happened to be on my counter. Blitz them together and taste! When you’re happy, sprinkle liberally on your liquorice and reminisce… [Looking at David’s dish again, might be worth putting a little bit in the bottom of the dish, then a smaller amount on top – rather than just chucking it onto the ice-cream :0)]

David’s Sherbet Dab

My Sherbet Dab

May 18, 2012 Roux

Roux Brothers Soufflés Suissesse

This savoury soufflé is one of the Roux Brother’s signature dishes, and is one of their first and finest. The soufflés are cooked in a cream sauce at the last minute to add to the richness of the dish. The recipe was demonstrated on the Roux Legacy documentary in 2012.

Ingredients:

140 g butter, plus extra for greasing
65 g flour
700 ml milk
5 egg yolks
6 egg whites
1 litres double cream
200 g grated Gruyere or Emmental cheese

Method:

For the soufflé: Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Melt 65g of the butter in a small saucepan set over low heat. Using a small wire whisk, stir in the flour and cook gently for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously.
Take the pan off the heat and leave the roux to cool slightly. Bring the milk to the boil, then pour it slowly over the cooled roux, whisking all the time. Set the pan over high heat and, stirring continuously, bring the mixture to the boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the egg yolks. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Pour the soufflé mixture into a wide-mouthed bowl and dot the surface with 1 tbsp of the butter, cut into small pieces, to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, chill 8 round 8cm tartlet tins in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes. Remove and immediately grease them generously with softened butter and arrange on a baking sheet.
To assemble: Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Using a whisk, quickly beat one-third of the egg whites into cooled soufflé mix, then, using a spatula, carefully fold in the remainder to completely blend them. Using a tablespoon, heap the mixture into the tartlet tins on the baking tray.
Pour the cream into a saucepan. Lightly salt the cream then warm gently on the hob, over a low heat without letting it boil. Pour the cream into a warmed gratin dish that is big enough to hold all 8 tartlet tins.
To cook: Bake the tray of soufflés in the preheated oven for 3 minutes, until the tops begin to turn golden. Remove from the oven and protecting your hands with a cloth, turn out each soufflé into the gratin dish of warm cream. Sprinkle over the Gruyere or Emmental and return to the oven for 5 minutes. The soufflés must be taken immediately to the table; serve them with a spoon and fork, taking care not to crush them.

May 13, 2012 Baking

Heston Blumenthal’s Lemon Tart [Thermomix]

Without doubt the best lemon tart I’ve had, light, just set and vibrant with citrus flavours.

I’ve actually made this recipe several times now, and have gradually refined the process so that now the 11yo actually makes it on her own! The first time I ignored all of the instructions about sticking it into the freezer, and I paid the price. Firstly the dough was far too soft to handle, and broke as I was transferring it to the case. Secondly it went golden far too quickly, and lastly it absolutely fell apart when I mis-handled the tin. Make sure you follow the instructions exactly, use an oven thermometer, your digital thermometer, and if you have one, your laser thermometer too!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
300g plain flour
150g unsalted butter
½ tsp salt
120g icing sugar
3 large egg yolks
Seeds from ½ vanilla pod
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
1 egg for the egg wash

Method:

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, butter and salt on low speed until it becomes a sand like texture (approximately 2-3 minutes). [Actually, I did this by hand]
In the meantime, in a tall container blitz together the icing sugar and egg yolks with a hand blender.
Add the vanilla seeds and lemon zest to the egg yolk mixture and then add to the bowl in the mixer and continue to mix on low speed until fully combined and a very soft dough has formed (approximately 3-5 minutes).
Mould the dough into a flat rectangle and wrap it in clingfilm before placing in the fridge for at least 1 hour. [Did mine overnight, was pretty firm when I rolled it out]
Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 2mm, using two stacked 2 pence coins as guides, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5. Line a 26cm tart tin (2.5cm deep) with the pastry making sure to press it into the edges and leaving the pastry hanging over the edge.
Take a sheet of baking paper and scrunch it up several times to eliminate any sharp edges. Prick the dough with a fork all over the surface. Place the baking paper on top and add enough coins (or baking beans) to fill the casing ¼ of the way up. Place in the preheated oven to bake for approximately 20 minutes or until fully cooked. [Be careful with the coins – once nearly put a watch battery in the oven which someone had dumped in the coin pot – check them!]
In the meantime, mix some of the leftover dough with an egg using a hand blender.
After 20 minutes, remove the baking paper and coins and, using a pastry brush, brush the entire surface of the tart with the dough and egg mixture. This ‘liquid pastry’ will ensure that any holes will be sealed. Return the tart to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.
Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool completely.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 120ºC/gas mark ½. Place the baked pastry case in the oven to warm up.

[If you’re in a massive hurry, you can use this pastry, it comes in a pre-cut disc and is the best commercial pastry I’ve found to date. This is what the 11yo uses when we’re in a hurry, and it’s pre-rolled to a very suitable thickness]

For the filling:

Finely grated zest and juice of 5 lemons

300ml double cream

390g white caster sugar

9 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

Method:

Put all the filling ingredients into the thermomix and cook for 10 minutes, speed five, at 60ºC – keep a close eye on the temperature, you want to stop it at 60º – do not rely on the thermomix, check it with a digital thermometer! At this point, strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. With a spoon, remove the bubbles from the surface of the liquid.
Slide the oven rack out a bit, then pour the mixture into the warm pastry case inside the oven. Fill the case to the top, slide the rack carefully back in, and bake the tart for approximately 25 minutes or until the temperature of the filling reaches 70ºC. Allow to cool completely at room temperature. [Now. You’re supposed to check the temperature with a thermometer – DO NOT TEST THE TEMPERATURE AT THE EDGE OF THE TART! It’s cooked further than the rest of it, and will mark your custard! I’ve now made this tart several times and I actually now test it with a laser thermometer, basing the reading on the centre of the tart – you can also use the ‘wobble test’ – there should still be a noticeable wobble in the centre.]
Just before serving, trim the overhanging pastry by running a sharp knife round the top of the tart tin and discard.

Notes:

The tart had the perfect amount of wobble, and stood upright, but it was still a little too loose for me, in terms of mouth feel. Unless you’re going to practice it before you make it for something big, do take it a little beyond 70ºC if you want to make sure it’s more firmly set. Also, Heston says to trim the pastry just before you serve? No, think that’s a bad idea… Firstly, I ended up with little crumbs on my tart, not matter how I held it, because the pastry is so brittle. Secondly, I managed to break a chunk off mine at the last minute, which then meant that I was unwilling to really trim it up to the fluted edge for fear of a repeat… Also, the pastry was still too thick… I rolled it much thinner after that.

Make sure your sheet will cover your tin entirely

Rolled to the thickness of two 2p pieces… Eventually…

Remember to test your tart in the centre, not at the edge!

Tart, with nibbled edge and that blooming crack!…

This recipe is in Heston Blumenthal at home cookbook. You can find it here >

May 12, 2012 Butter

Flavoured Butter [Thermomix]

Of course we all know how to make flavoured butter, but in the Thermomix it’s even more insanely easy! Today I made on flavoured with 1 lime, 1 lemon, and 1 blood orange, then chopped some herbs into it. Used it to pop under the breast skin of my roast chicken – yum yum.

Look, this is my chicken before it even went in the oven – but it’s also a cornfed chicken, so the skin is already golden :0) Of course forgot to photo it when it came out… But you get the idea. And yes, I loosen out all of the joints to ensure even cooking, which means I cut off the end of the wing so it doesn’t stick into the breast.

Then I popped all the herbs I hadn’t used this weekend into the Thermomix, put in 1kg of butter, cooked / chopped it at 57ºC for 10 minutes. Perfect herb butter.

Come on, who wouldn’t want that on their fish? Or a quick version of Omelette aux Fines Herbes?